I was reminiscing with Chad, a co-laborer in Christ. He had joined my adult leadership team in my first ministry out of seminary. I was the student minister, he was a big hearted skilled craftsman, whose faith had recently been radically revived. The church had an exceptional group of kids and an adult leadership group that was fantastic. On our first mission trip, I took these kids to Cordele, Georgia to help a seminary friend, Ira, who was a church planter. His church start was in the government assisted housing neighborhood he had grown up in with a single mom. The first night of this mission trip, Ira took us to his old neighborhood in our church van towing a trailer and had us park right in the middle of the community. He asked if he could stand on top of the van and borrow our portable sound system to address the crowd. We said, “sure.” We all prayed and he instructed us that when he finished a short sermon we could go meet the neighbors and invite their kids to our Vacation Bible School. But the moment he climbed on top of the van and people began to come outside their apartments to listen, he said the Lord overwhelmed him and he began to prophesy against some of the people in that community. He called them by name and told them to repent. One man in particular, he called by name and told him if he did not repent the Lord would prevent him from sleeping. Ira said, “no sleep will touch your eyes until you turn to the Lord, and repent from your sins.” That man and some others yelled back at Ira, telling him to shut up and go away. Once my friend came down from the top of the van we sang a hymn and left quickly. Obviously, after that our VBS plans were changed and we wouldn’t be going back to that community. We completed our week helping my friend clean up his rented building, hosting a very small VBS, and helping him host a revival night at his church. Some people came to Christ that revival night, but I never knew what came of those he had prophesied against, until now, 30 years later. Chad told me that several years later, he was at a gas station somewhere in Georgia when a man came up to him saying he needed a little money for an alternator for his car so he could get home. Chad helped the man and as they talked and walked to the auto parts store, Chad discovered that the man was from Cordele, GA. Chad told the man he had been to Cordele on a mission trip. The man stopped him and said, did you have a preacher on top of a van with a trailer behind it? Chad said, “yes!” The man said, “that preacher on top of the van told me I wouldn’t sleep until I repented. It was true, I was a drug dealer and a pimp, I was a bad man.” He said, "I couldn’t sleep, no matter what I tried. He said he tried lots of alcohol… no sleep! All kinds of pills… no sleep! He said became so miserable he tried overdosing, but he didn't die, nor did he sleep! He said he finally went to the church and repented from his sins and was saved that day.
The biblical prophet, Jeremiah, tells us that true prophets of God are known by their prophecies coming true (Jer. 28:9). And when God is speaking to Ezekiel about what he should tell the people, He tells him: “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” (Ezekiel 33:33) Wow, I hope we listen to God’s prophetic reminders of how we are to treat Him and other people if we really love them. God loves us too much to let us continue in sin, so He is gracious to pursue us and give us grace when we repent.
Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!
